Electric bell



NOV. 28, 1933. I 5 Q O DAWES 1,937,403

ELECTRIC BELL Filed May 16. 1929 gmnnlnnnnu umlmnrg INVENTOR wrmEsses w110.0 amas m j D ATTORNEL Patented Nov. 28, 1933 j UNHTED STAT S1,937,403 ELECTRIC BELL Gwyn o; oljnevi s, ole Elum, Wash. 1 A eliefionjmeyls, 1929; seri lne ssasos Thisinventionrelates to electricbells.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a novel andimproved bell which will,

the invention illustrated in Fig. l of theaccombe simple and eificientin construction and opera- 5 tion', and which will materially reduce theelectricallenergy used in the normal operation of electric bells.

A further object of the present invention isto provide a bell operatingstructure in which the clapper arm of the bell and the armature of theassociate electro-magnet are separate and distinct units. 7 I A Afurther Object of the present invention is to g provide an armature anda clapper armasselnbly whereby movements of the armature and.

clapper arm will control periodic energization of their associatedmagnets, and whereby the frequeneyof the bell operation maybe readily addusted for any desired frequency.

A furt her object of the present invention is to Y provideanelectricalbell operating structure by means of which the period ofencrgization of the electromagnet of theassembly will be of lesssduration than in the; conventional operating lm ur now i u e 1 c Afurther object of the invention is to provide in a device of thecharacter described, a clapper arm controlledcircuit controller arrangedto provide a wiping contact whereby the contact surfaceswill be self-cleaning.

. g A still. further object of the present invention is to provide'abell operatingstructure in which the armature is arranged to move inclose prox- Numerous other objectsand features of i the presentinvention will beapparent from a consideration of the following.specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, inwhich- I Figure 1 is a side elevation-of one form of the bell operatingstructure embodying the resent invention;

Fig. 2 is a detailed view showing the relationship of the armature andclapper arm whilethe circuit is completed therethrough; and i Fig. 3 isa View similar, to Fig. 2, showingthe 3 Claims. (cl. 11-1 75relationship of the clapper arm and armature with the circuitbrokentherethrough.

.Referring more particularly to that form of panying drawing, it willbeunderstood that the embodiment, of the invention here presented is oneform only and that the invention isnot confined to the specificstructural features as herein illustrated.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing the bell has been indi- .6 cated by the numeral10 and may, of course, be of any conventional shape .or design...Associated with the bell 10 is a clapper or hammer 11 mounted upon theextremity of a clapper arm 12, which is pivotally mounted to a. suitablesupporting base, not shown;

Adjacent the pivot'point of the clapper arm 12 an angularly extendingconducting crank arm 13 v is provided, the extremity of which ispositioned adjacent the armature 14, the extremity ofthe armature beingprovided with a pair of rounded segments 15 and 16. Segment 15 is formed.of conducting material electrically connected with the-conducting arm13, while segment 16'.is formed of insulating material. I

LThe armature 14 is pivoted to the base by th pivot 1'7, the'armaturebeing retained in spaced relation to its associated magnets by a spring18.- A flexible conductor 19 associated with the armature 14 is providedwhich extends to one of a pair of binding posts 20. The other bindingpost 20 is associated by a conductor .21 with a pair-of electromagneticcoils 22, the other side of whichis electrically connected with thecrank 13 by a suitable conductor 23. The conductor 23 is preferablyflexible and is fastened as. near the pivotal point-ofthe clapper arm aspossible, thus to reduce the amountof its motion.

For controlling the length of the inward movement towards the magnets ofthe armature 14,- a

readilyadjustable stop screw 24 is provided,

sented, it'is understood that associated with the binding posts 20 asuitable source of potential and a-circuit controller thereforisprovided, the arrangement being such that when the circuitcontrollercompletes the circuit of potential will be applied across the bindingposts 20. r I The normal position of restof the device is-as shown inFigs. 1 and 2. When in'such position,

and When the potential isapplied across the bindproperly withoutinsulation segment 16.

ing posts 20, the current will pass through the conductor 19, throughthe armature 14, and through segment 15 to the crank 13, and thusthrough the conductor 23 to energize the electromagnets 22. The circuitbeing completed through the conducductor 21 to the opposite binding post20, the electromagnets will be energized and the armature 14 will bepivotally moved in a counter-clockwise direction as shown in Fig. 1,against the tension of the spring 18, thus forcing upwardly the clapper11 for contact with the bell 10, the spring 25 acting as a damper of thereturn motion of the armature.

Insuch movement the relation of the segments to the armature 14. and thecrank 13 will be as shown in Fig. 3. In such movement it will be notedthat the segments move arcuately with respect to the crank 13 wherebythe insulated segment 16 is the engaging portion of the armature 14 withrespect to the crank 13. Thus the-circuit between the armature l4 andthe crank 13 will be broken and the electromagnets will becomedispresent invention that only slight inward movement of the armature 14will be sufficient to break the contact between the segment15 and thecrank 13. Thus the period of energization of the magnets is considerablyless than will be found in conventional bells now in use.

A great saving of current results from the fact that the armature ispermitted to return to its position of rest immediately allowing theclapper. member to travel a considerable distance to the bell andpermitting it.to deliver ahammer-like blow, being entirely free fromtheinfluence of the armature reten- T sion springs, which in presenttype bells must be 'fairly strong in order to secure good electricalconnection for the contacts.

During this return travelof the armature no current is flowing in thecircuit. Also there is no current flowing during the return motion ofthe clapper arm. The current thus saved is considerable.

It will be noted further that when the striking impulse has beendelivered to the clapper arm it is'free to move to strike the bellregardless of the outward movement of the armature 14 directly upon thecessation of the energization of the magnets 22.

' It will be noted that the bell will function y The segmentisrecommended in bells intended'for very important service or bellsdesigned to withstand heavy vibration, such as street car bells,

etc. The object of this insulation is ,to prevent the clapper assemblyfrom looking. For example,

suppose a vibration forced the clapper arm and crank back against thearmature before it had returned to its rest position. The clapper havingno momentum would rest against the contact l5, the coils being energizedwould hold the armature, the current would continue to flow,'but ringingwould have ceased. However, when stop screw 24 is adjusted properly, nocurrent flows even if clapperiod or power-consuming period of the magnetis greatly diminished without diminishing the efiectiveness of thedevice.

demands offeconomic manufacture. understood, furthermore, that numerouschanges It will further be seen that the present invention providesready means for controlling the frequency of the periodic contact of theclapper 11 with the bell 10. It will be seen that by adjusting thespring 25 and the stop screw 24, or by adjusting the angular relation ofthe clapper arm or its length, the period of energization and thefrequency of energization may be readily controlled, thus controllingnot only the time factor involved, but'also, controlling the rate atwhich the bell is struck.

From the foregoing it will readily be seen that the present inventionprovides a novel, simple and improved construction which will be highlyefficient in operation and well designed to meet the It will be andmodifications, together with thefull use of equivalents, may be resortedto in the accomplishment of the present invention, without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the appended claims.

I claim: f a

1. In a device of the class described, a bell,

a pivoted arm with a clapper disposed adjacent the bell for striking thelatter and having a contact operating member, an electro-magnet, apivoted armature movable under the influenceof the magnet, a springtending to move the arma- IOU ture away from the electro-magnet, thearmature extending in the direction of the contact operat-' ing memberand being disposed adjacent a side of the latter, the armature having acontacting surface normally engaging the contact operating member, thesaid contactingsurface consisting of. a conducting member and aninsulating member,

with the conducting member disposed between the insulating member andthe armature pivot, so that the conducting member will engage thecontact operating member when the armature is,

in non-actuated position and the conducting member will be out ofengagement with and the insulating member will be disposed forengagement with the contact operating member when the armature is inactuated position, and a circuit through the armature conducting member,the contact operating member and the electromagnet. f

2. In a device of the class described, a bell,

means for operating the bell, the said means having a contact operatingmember,'an electro-inag a net, a pivoted armature movable under theinfluence of the magnet, a spring tending to move the armature away fromthe electro-magnet, the armature extending in the direction of thecontact operating member and being disposed ad-' jacent a side or" thelatter, the armature having a contacting surface normally engaging thecon tact operating member, the said contacting surface consisting of aconducting member and an insulating member, with the conducting memberdisposed between the insulating member and the armature pivot, so thatthe conductingmember will engage the contact operating member when thearmature is in non-actuated position and the conducting member will beout of engagement with and the insulating member will be disposed forengagement with the contact operating member'when the armature is inactuated position, and a circuit through the armature conducting member,the contact operating member and the armature movable under theinfluence of the magnet, the armature extending in the direction tionand the conducting member will be out of engagement with and theinsulating member will be disposed for engagement with the contactoperating member when the armature is in actuated position, a circuitthrough the armature conducting member, the contact operating member andI the electrc-magnet, means to limit the movement of the armature in onedirection, and resilient means for moving the armature yieldingly in theopposite direction.

' GWYN O. O. DAVIES.

